Brokerages Set East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) PT at $109.77

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $109.77.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Wedbush lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $985,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,543,510.50. The trade was a 7.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,552,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,414,000 after buying an additional 90,618 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 21.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,800,000 after acquiring an additional 7,645 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 7.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,513,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $96.28 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a fifty day moving average of $101.92 and a 200 day moving average of $87.78. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $67.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 8.39 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.78%.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other.